How Can I Efficiently Manage And Review Student Pull Requests On A Shared Git Repository For A Collaborative Robotics Project, Ensuring That Each Student's Code Contributions Are Properly Attributed And Merged, While Also Preventing Code Conflicts And Maintaining A Stable Master Branch For Demonstration And Competition Purposes?
To efficiently manage student pull requests on a shared Git repository for a collaborative robotics project, follow this structured approach:
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Establish a Branching Strategy:
- Feature Branches: Each student should create a feature branch named clearly, such as
feature/studentname-task. - Isolation: These branches isolate individual work, preventing conflicts until ready for merging.
- Feature Branches: Each student should create a feature branch named clearly, such as
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Implement Pull Request Process:
- Submission: Students submit changes via pull requests, ensuring each PR is focused on a single task.
- Review Team: Assign a review team (TAs or senior students) to evaluate each PR using a checklist for thoroughness.
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Ensure Proper Attribution:
- Commit Messages: Encourage detailed commit messages with student names.
- Tracking Contributions: Use a contributors file or GitHub tools to track contributions.
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Merge Strategy and Stability:
- Protected Branches: Restrict pushing to master to maintainers only.
- Testing: Use CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins) for automated testing on each PR.
- Merge Tactics: Prefer rebases for a clean history or merges with clear commit messages.
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Communication and Collaboration:
- Regular Meetings: Hold project meetings or use chat channels for discussions.
- Documentation: Provide a workflow guide and best practices for students.
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Conflict Prevention:
- Regular Syncing: Advise students to rebase their branches frequently.
- Tools: Use visualization tools like GitKraken for managing branches and merges.
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Post-Merge Procedures:
- Summaries: Send email summaries post-merge to inform the team.
- Backup Plans: Maintain a rollback strategy or separate demo branch for stability.
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Utilize Educational Tools:
- GitHub Classroom: Automate repository setup and manage assignments efficiently.
By following these steps, you can manage contributions effectively, ensure proper attribution, prevent conflicts, and maintain a stable master branch for demonstrations and competitions.